Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
CA 02667142 2012-03-15
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CREATING A CONFIGURABLE BROWSER-BASED
FORMS APPLICATION
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to computer software architecture and
development. More particularly, the present invention relates to reusable
software
components, as well as the configuration of software applications.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Computer software is used in many fields of endeavor, including public health.
Typically, when a requirement for a particular software application comes to
existence, this
requirement is brought to a software development team and a project is
undertaken.
Software development is typically expensive both in terms of cost and time,
since each
scenario requires the development of many components specific to the
particular
requirements.
Object-oriented programming can help speed up software development by making
available certain reusable programming objects. However, a programmer is still
limited to a
certain level of reusability, based on the contents of libraries of reusable
objects. It is still
necessary to write software code for all of the elements that will make use of
the existing
objects, and to rewrite that code if the requirements change.
The proliferation of internet technologies has led to an increase in the
development of
applications designed to run in a web browser, such as Microsoft Internet
Explorer, Mozilla*
Firefox*, Safari*, Opera* and Netscape*. A web browser is a software
application that enables
a user to display and interact with text, images, videos, music and other
information, typically
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CA 02667142 2012-03-15
located on a web page at a website or on a local area network. Browser-based
applications
are advantageous in that they are cross-platform and can run on any operating
system that
can run a web browser. Many browser-based applications rely on forms for the
collection,
display and analysis of data, many of which have become quite sophisticated.
In known software development tools, such as ActiveX*, a programmer can select
tools from libraries and place them on a user interface screen for a form-
based application.
Resource scripting in C++ can also be used to draw a screen, and Microsoft
Access
includes form generation wizards. However, these tools only assist in building
screens. For
example, Microsoft Access requires the separate creation of a database with
which the
generated form can communicate. In each of these cases, all of the
communication rules and
reporting mechanisms must be hard coded by a programmer. Changes in
configuration result
in having to modify software code and recompile the application.
Software functionality requirements typically include security requirements,
or access
policies. In the area of public health, such policies typically relate to the
ability of different
users to access different types of health data. When a software application is
created, it is
often necessary to also create an associated database, as well as a set of
rules regarding
data access and generation of reports. The integration and configuration of
such components
to form part of a customized solution can be very time consuming, in the order
of 6 months,
even if the stand-alone components already exist as a generic framework.
Known approaches, such as US 2004/0158820 and US 2005/0257196, can
automatically convert a legacy application to a web-based application, or an
application from
one language to another. While such approaches can assist in the creation of
certain
portions of software, they do not provide software application tools to
efficiently develop
software and associated database and rules. A skilled software programmer must
manually
code these additional features.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide an improved software application
architecture and
software development approach to provide an end-to-end solution that can be
easily
implemented and configured to suit different needs.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate at least one
disadvantage
of previous software development approaches.
In a first aspect, the present invention provides a method of creating an end-
to end
configurable software solution for a browser-based project. The method
includes the
following steps: providing an application shell, a database shell and a policy
shell, the
application shell having common features of browser-based forms applications;
receiving
configuration parameters representing project features for the browser-based
project;
generating a browser-based project form by customizing the common features
based on the
received configuration parameters, the browser-based project form having
project form fields.
The method also includes: generating a project database by customizing the
database shell based on the received configuration parameters, the project
database having
project database fields associated with the project form fields, the project
database storing
the configuration parameters; generating project policies by customizing the
policy shell
based on the received configuration parameters, the project policies governing
communication between the browser-based project form and the project database;
and
providing the generated browser-based project form, the project database and
the project
policies to a user as the browser-based project.
The method can further include: receiving modified configuration parameters;
and
automatically regenerating the browser-based project form, the project
database and the
project policies based on the modified configuration parameters. Compiled
software code in
the application shell, the database shell and the policy shell is unchanged in
response to the
modified configuration parameters. The method can also include updating a user
access
profile in response to the received modified configuration parameters, and the
step of
regenerating can be based on the updated user access profile.
The method can further include: receiving second project configuration
parameters;
and generating a browser-based second project form, a second project database
and second
project policies based on the second configuration parameters. Compiled
software code in
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the application shell, the database shell and the policy shell is unchanged in
response to the
second configuration parameters.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a computer-readable medium
storing statements and instructions for execution by a processor to perform
the method of
creating an end-to end configurable software solution for a browser-based
project as
described above.
In a further aspect, the present invention provides a software application
development
system for producing a configurable browser-based forms application. The
system includes
an application shell, a database shell, a policy shell, a user interface, and
an access control
profile. The application shell has common features of browser-based forms
applications. The
database shell has generic database fields of browser-based forms
applications. The policy
shell has generic policy, data extraction and synchronization functions for
browser-based
forms applications. The user interface receives modifiable configuration
parameters from a
user.
The access control profile (ACP) stores configuration parameters and
customizes the
application shell, the database shell and the policy shell to create a browser-
based project
form, a project database and project policies, respectively. The ACP also
automatically
regenerates the browser-based project form, the project database and the
project policies
based on modification of the configuration parameters. Compiled software code
in the
application shell, the database shell and the policy shell is unchanged in
response to
modification of the configuration parameters.
The ACP can create records in a categories table in response to creation of
the form,
create records in a properties table in response to creation of sections of
the form, and
create records in an attributes table in response to creation of data fields
for each section of
the form. The created records provide mapping between the generic functions
and the
desired functions. In response to creation of organizations, groups and units
in an
organizational structure of the form, the ACP can create corresponding records
in an
organizations table, groups table and units table. In response to creation of
users are within
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each of the units in the organizational structure, the ACP creates records in
a units table and
a roles table.
In response to definition of the form's access control profile for the
organizational
structure, the ACP can create records in an organization attributes table
which point to
corresponding attributes in the attributes table, and can create records in a
unit attributes
table which point to the created organization attributes records to maintain
access control
hierarchy. In response to definition of the form's access control profile for
a user, the ACP
can create records in a role attributes table which point to corresponding
attributes in the
attributes table, and can create records in a user attributes table which
point to the created
unit attributes table records to maintain access control hierarchy.
In a yet further aspect, the present invention provides a configurable browser-
based
forms application. The configurable application includes an application shell,
a database
shell, a policy shell, and an access control profile. The application shell
has common features
of browser-based forms applications. The database shell has generic database
fields of
browser-based forms applications. The policy shell has generic policy, data
extraction and
synchronization functions for browser-based forms applications. The access
control profile
stores configuration parameters and customizes the application shell, the
database shell and
the policy shell to create a browser-based project form, a project database
and project
policies, respectively. The ACP also automatically regenerates the browser-
based project
form, the project database and the project policies based on modification of
the configuration
parameters. Compiled software code in the application shell, the database
shell and the
policy shell is unchanged in response to modification of the configuration
parameters.
Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to
those
ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of
specific embodiments of
the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example
only,
with reference to the attached Figures, wherein:
Figure 1 is an overview of services in a configurable application according to
an
embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 illustrates a configurable application toolset architecture according
to an
embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 3 illustrates an access control profile schema for a configurable forms
manager application according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4 illustrates a services data flow in the configurable forms manager
application
according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 5 illustrates an access control profile schema for a configurable forms
data
entry application according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 6 illustrates a services data flow in a configurable forms data entry
application
according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 7 illustrates a policy interpreter schema for a configurable policies
manager
application according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 8 illustrates a policies data flow in a configurable policies manager
application
according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 9 illustrates a process within a configurable policy agent application
according
to an embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Generally, the present invention provides a method and system for implementing
a
configurable browser-based form application. A configurable application
toolset is provided,
having a plurality of reusable browser-based form application components, or
shells, that are
configured in response to a received set of configuration parameters. Based on
the
configuration parameters, the toolset can be used to create any number of
browser-based
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form applications. The application includes a browser-based form, a database,
and rules
governing the collection and storage of gathered and stored data. All of the
configuration
parameters are stored as data, so that no recompiling or modification of
compiled software
code in the shells is required when changes are needed, or an entirely new
browser-based
form application is desired. This reduces cost and time in software
development.
A browser-based form application, or web-based form application, is an
application
that uses one or more forms for entering and/or accessing data. These
applications are
advantageous in that they are cross-platform and can run on any operating
system that can
run a web browser. Browser-based form applications can be developed and used
in many
fields such as public health information processing, inventory management,
asset
management, vacation scheduling, etc. A forms-based application can be as
diverse as a
disease surveillance application (e.g., for tuberculosis, TB), a hazardous
materials inventory
application, an application to manage contracts, etc. Essentially, any type of
application
where information can be entered in a forms-based application with different
policies and
different access control is an application that can be built with this process
through
configuration.
A database schema is a collection of meta-data that describes the relations in
a
database. A schema can be simply described as the "layout" of a database or
the blueprint
that outlines the way data is organized into tables. Schema are normally
described using
Structured Query Language (SQL) as a series of CREATE statements that may be
used to
replicate the schema in a new database.
Embodiments of the present invention take advantage of the fact that many
browser-
based form applications can be described, or defined, as having common
attributes and
features. These can be described as reusable components. Realizing that there
is a demand
for a wide range of form-based applications, the reusable components are then
used to build
a suite of tools that are completely configurable and able to be used on-the-
fly to do rapid
application development. For example, one tool draws configurable screens, and
another
tool creates the back-end structures required to store and process the data.
As such, instead
of taking an application out of service to add a new field based on a new
requirement, a
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service provisioning tool can be used to add that screen without recompiling
the code in the
application.
Whereas some known applications allow a user to configure screens, embodiments
of the present invention not only allow a user to configure screens, but also
configure the
access control to those screens (functions and data elements) and the policies
guiding those
data elements and forms. Embodiments of the present invention also permit a
user to
dynamically synchronize this data with a master instance of the application in
a distributed
environment (e.g., one central instance, others deployed on laptops that need
to synch the
data entered on the laptops with the central instance).
The interaction of these application shells together provides a method of
application
development according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Embodiments of the present invention can be advantageous for collecting data,
for
example, in an outbreak situation. A physician can advise of the 3 or 4
fields/screens that are
important for that outbreak. The system can then be used to add the fields to
an existing
application, or create a new application based on those fields.
Figure 1 provides an overview of services in a configurable application
according to
an embodiment of the present invention. The services and data flow are as
follows: create or
configure any application-based policies (step 100), e.g. all forms must be at
least 5
characters. Then, create or configure a form(s), organizational structure and
the access
control profiles on the form for this organizational structure (step 102). The
next step is to
create or configure the policies for the data elements in the form and the
organizational
structure (step 104). These steps relate to creation of the configurable
application.
A user can then enter the data into the created form(s), given the access
control and
policies (step 106). Finally, the data is extracted to be used in another
application (e.g., SAS)
or to be synchronized with a similar application on another machine (step
108). This is
relevant in distributed applications, where there is a central instance of the
application and
distributed instances on laptops or other machines that need to synchronize
their data.
These steps relate to use of the configurable application.
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Embodiments of the present invention take data that is typically hard-coded
(forms
and data elements, and their related policies) and move it from the actual
software into the
database. The software then works with generic data. This way, application
shells can be
created that contain the framework for the functionality; the details are left
to be configured
and stored in the database. When a form is created, the system is actually
creating fields in a
database. The forms themselves are not hard coded anywhere, but are simply
stored to the
database as data.
Typically in software development, data is only seen as information that the
user
enters, stores, searches on, reports, etc. According to embodiments of the
present invention,
an object on the screen, a field, label, user name, user profile, are all
known to the system as
data. Everything configurable about the application, the individuals who use
it, and the rules
around its operation, is stored as data. It is all stored in the Access
Control Profile schema,
and all communication is with respect to the schema.
Figure 2 illustrates a configurable application toolset architecture 100
according to an
embodiment of the present invention, which shows the interaction between the
different
layers of the architecture for the configurable application. The architecture
includes a project
layer 110, an applications layer 120, a services layer 130, and a components
layer 140. A
database 150 is also shown, which communicates with components in the
components layer
140.
The project layer 110 comprises all software that is specific to a certain
project. The
project layer includes a forms-based project 112. Each project will have its
own specific set
of components (e.g., database schema, scripts, project-specific code, property
files, screens)
which cannot be used by other applications. When a new project 112 is created,
it will
comprise the four configurable applications, which will be described below.
A project is an instantiation of a generic forms-based application where a
form is
configured, the policies on its data elements are configured, and the data is
entered. The
data is then extracted for external applications or synchronized with a
similar application over
the network. Therefore, the project 112 will comprise not only the application
shells, the
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services and components but also the data stored in the database that includes
all the details
of the application.
The application layer 120 comprises application shells including software that
is
common to a browser-based form application. A Configurable Forms Manager
Application
122 is provided for creating the form and structure of the application. A
Configurable Policies
Manager Application 124 is provided for creating the policies. A Configurable
Forms Data
Entry Application 126 is provided for entering the data. A Configurable Policy
Agent
Application 128 is provided for extracting and synchronizing the data.
The applications in the application layer 120 rely on the Components in the
component layer 140 and data in the database to provide the details. Since the
applications
are generic for any browser-based form application, these applications can
describe a
disease surveillance application, an asset inventory system, a contract
system, a
questionnaire/survey system or a system to evaluate how certain programs or
people are
doing (etc.).
There are several different types of applications such as survey systems,
surveillance
systems and library information management systems (LIMS). The application
layer 120 can
also include components specific to a particular type of application. For
example, survey
applications would require a question server, which would not be required in a
surveillance
system. Furthermore, application management services (AMS) exist at this
layer. These
types of services include survey management (e.g., enabling, disabling
surveys) and case
management (e.g., enabling, disabling cases). These management services are
common to
different types of applications.
The services layer 130 comprises services, which are more complex, independent
reusable elements. A form/organization/profile creation service 132 is used by
the
configurable forms manager application 122. Similarly, policy creation service
134, data entry
service 136, and data extraction/synchronization service 138 are used by the
configurable
policies manager application 124, the configurable forms data entry
application 126 and the
configurable policy agent application 128, respectively. Other examples of
services include a
scheduler service, an adapter service, and a security service.
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The services in the services layer 130 make use of, and can be composed of,
components found in the component layer 140. Components in the components
layer 140
are the most reused and generic components in the entire system, and include
an access
control profile 142, a policy interpreter 144 and a messaging component 146.
The access
control profile (ACP) component 142 interacts with the messaging component 146
to ensure
that data is send is only the data that can be viewed. The policy interpreter
component 144
interacts with the messaging component 146 to handle routing to different
servers, removing
data that cannot be sent for privacy reasons etc.
The component layer 140 can be described as including data store components
and
message components. The data store components interact with the data stores
such as
databases and directories. There are different procedures for accessing data
residing in data
stores. For instance, one application may want to use a resource-managed
database class
whereas another application may want to make use of table-based database
classes. Other
components may want to offer direct services to these components. With respect
to message
components, there are many different ways that components can communicate with
each
other. A common method is via a Message-Oriented Middleware (MOM) such as SOAP
or
JMS. However, Remote Procedure Call-based technologies such as CORBA and RMI
provide alternative solutions.
The database 150 sits underneath the component layer. Most database access
goes
through the ACP component 142. The policy interpreter 144 stores and retrieves
the policies
from the database 150 and also acts upon data stored in the database. The
messaging
component 146 does not generally use the database since it is mostly concerned
with
building and sending XML/SOAP messages. A data synchronization service, which
uses all
of the components, accesses the database through the ACP component 142 and
policy
interpreter 144.
Form Management
The access control profile schema is at the heart of all configurable
applications according to embodiments of the present invention, and is what
provides the
data flexibility for the configurable applications.
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Figure 3 illustrates an access control profile schema 200 for a configurable
forms
manager application 122 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Forms are
stored in the categories table 202. Sections in the forms are stored in the
properties table
204. The data elements for each section of the form are stored in the
attributes table 206.
The data types (e.g., dropdown list) that can be assigned to each data element
are stored in
the attribute types table 208, with their values (e.g., values in a dropdown
list) being stored in
the attribute values table 210.
Organizational structure is stored in the organizations table 212, groups
table 214,
units table 216, and users table 218. The Access Control Profile is stored in
the user
attributes table 220, unit attributes table 222 and organization attributes
table 224.
Other tables of note are the roles table 226 and the role attributes table
228. Each
user is assigned a Role that determines what functions of the application the
user can
access. Note that role attributes table 226 has a relationship with the
attributes table 206.
This is because a function within the configurable application is treated no
differently than a
data element. The category could be the functions (e.g., TB Functions) for the
application,
the property could be the different web pages in the application for that
function (e.g., User
Management) and the Attributes would be the functions themselves (e.g., Create
a User,
Create a Role). Further tables of note are a subjects table 230 and a data
dictionary table
232.
Therefore, access to a function in a configurable application according to an
embodiment of the present invention can be controlled within the application
in a similar
manner as controlling access to forms, sections in those forms, and data
elements in those
sections. This is enabled by considering everything outside of the application
shells as a
piece of data. Every object seen on a form on the screen is stored as data.
Figure 4 illustrates a services data flow according to an embodiment of the
present
invention in a configurable forms manager application 122, such as the
Form/Organization/Profile Creation Service in Figure 1. These steps will also
be described in
relation to the involvement of the access control profile (ACP) with each
step.
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In step 302, a form is created, for example a form that will track TB cases.
When the
form is created, the ACP creates the necessary records in the categories
table. Next, in step
304, the sections within this form are created, in response to which the ACP
creates the
necessary records in the properties table. The section can be patient
information, physician
information, etc.. Next, in step 306, the data fields for each section within
the form are
created, e.g. date of submission, physician name. In response to this step,
the ACP creates
the necessary records in the attributes table, assigning a type from the
attribute types table.
Once the form is complete, the organizational structure can be defined. In
step 308,
the organizations, groups within those organizations and units within those
groups are
defined in a hierarchy. For example, an organization (Province) may contain
Health Regions
(groups) which contain laboratories (units). Another application may define
the organization
to be the institution (Federal Government) with Departments (groups) and
Branches (units).
The ACP creates the necessary records in the organizations, groups and units
tables,
respectively. In step 310, users are then created within each of these units
in the
organizational structure, in response to which the ACP creates the necessary
records in the
units and roles tables.
In step 312, a form's access control profile is defined for the organizational
structure
by creating the necessary records in the organization attributes and unit
attributes tables.
The values in the organization attributes table points to the attributes in
the attributes table.
The values in the unit attributes table point to the values in the
organization attributes table to
maintain the access control hierarchy. In step 314, a form's access control
profile is defined
for a user by creating the necessary records in the user attributes and role
attributes table.
The values in the role attributes table points to the attributes in the
attributes table (functions,
stored as data). The values in the user attributes table point to the values
in the unit
attributes table to maintain the access control hierarchy. There is no
hierarchy to maintain for
the roles.
Based on the access control profile, one Organization may have access to all
Forms
whereas another Organization may only have access to one Form. Likewise, a
Health
Region may have access to certain Sections within a Form completely different
from another
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Health Region. Likewise, one User may have access to all elements within a
Form whereas
another User may have only partial access. Since the Access Control is
hierarchical, the
Access Control pushes downward. Therefore, if an Organization is not granted
access to a
Form, then all Groups/Units/Users within that Organization will not have
access to that Form.
Likewise, if an Organization has access to all the forms, but a Unit does not,
then all users
within that Unit will not have access whereas users within another Unit will
have access.
Data Entry
Figure 5 illustrates an Access Control Profile Schema 250 for a configurable
forms
data entry application 126 according to an embodiment of the present
invention. This part of
the schema, also referred to as a service provisioning schema, handles the
actual data entry
part. The units table 216, the subjects table 230 and the categories table 202
are the same
as the corresponding tables in Figure 3, with Figure 5 providing a
magnification of the
associations of the subjects table 230.
Any form-based application can be defined as having a concept of Subject and
Case.
These terms are used generically. For instance, a Subject in a contractor
application would
be the Contractor themselves with the Cases being each contract they work on.
A Subject in
a TB application would be the patient and the Cases would be the different
records that are
kept about them in regards to TB. Similarly, an inventory application may
define a Subject as
an institution with the Cases being the different assets they contain.
In each of these cases, the Subjects and the Cases are both forms. In other
words,
what a subject contains (sections and data elements) and what a particular
case contains
(sections and data elements) are all configured as forms. Referring to Figure
5, subject
information is stored in the subjects table 230, a subject information table
234, a subject
types table 236, and the units table 216. Case information is stored in a
cases table 238, a
case information table 240, a category n cases table 242, and a category n+1
cases table
244.
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In an alternate embodiment, an application does not have the concept of a
subject. In
that scenario, the application will just have cases (whatever they may be) and
the above
framework can handle that as well.
Figure 6 illustrates a services data flow according to an embodiment of the
present
invention in a configurable forms data entry application 126, such as the
Services Data Flow
from the Data Entry Service from Figure 1. These steps will also be described
in relation to
the involvement of the access control profile (ACP) with each step.
The first service that occurs in step 402 is where a user defines the form
search
criteria. Based on their access, a user will select the data elements from a
form that they
wish to search on. Their criteria and the data elements that will be displayed
in a line list.
Therefore, the user can create many different types of ad hoc
reporting/analysis with this
system. In response to the user defining the form search criteria in step 402,
the ACP
provides the profile information to give access to the forms, sections and
data elements that
the user is permitted to see when building the various ad hoc searching
functions.
The next service occurs once a list of forms is returned from the search. In
step 404,
the user enters the information into the form. This is the actual data entry
process. In
response to step 404, the ACP provides the profile information to give access
to only those
forms, sections and data elements that the user is permitted to see when
entering or viewing
data. After the user has entered this data, the record is saved, pending any
policy violations,
triggers and workflow as defined by the policies outlined in Figure 3, which
will be described
later.
Finally, in step 406, the user can extract the data that they have entered for
use in
another application such as SAS. Also, the user can synchronize the records
they have
entered with the central instance of the application. In response to step 406,
the ACP
provides the profile information to access only those forms, sections and data
elements that
the user is permitted to see when extracting or reporting on the data.
Data Objects
The configuration for an application is detailed as data in the above schema,
with
some in the Policy Interpreter schema, which will be described below. This is
what makes
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these applications so adaptable to be used in any form-based application - the
details are
configured, not hard-coded.
Typically, forms-based applications are hard-coded in that the fields shown on
a data
entry screen have similar database fields behind them. In embodiments of the
present
invention, all of the fields and definitions are stored in the
Categories/Properties/Attributes/
Attribute Types/Attribute Values tables. Each attribute has an ID and this ID
maps directly to
the id in the Subject Information, Case Information and Categoryn Cases
tables. When
considering the field `An' in these tables, the `n' refers to the attribute ID
in the Attributes
table. Therefore, if a field `Date of Submission' was created as part of the
`Create Forms'
Service and was assigned ID 55 in the Attributes table, then in the
Categoryl_Cases table
(which contains IDs 1 - 500), field A55 would refer to this `Date of
Submission'.
Therefore, instead of having a hard-coded field on the screen and a similar
field in the
database, the data is modeled in a very generic way: `Attribute 55 points to
A55 in
Categoryl_Cases'. This allows the Attributes (Data Fields) to be defined as
any data field. In
one application, attribute A55 may be 'Name of Contact'; in another
application, it may be
`Experienced Symptoms'. From a software code perspective, none of this is hard-
coded. The
software will not include a `Date of Submission', `Name of Contact' or
`Experienced
Symptoms' field. This information is part of the configuration parameters, and
therefore only
exists in the database (Attributes table and Policy tables). Instead, in an
application
according to an embodiment of the present invention, for the case of `Date of
Submission',
the database includes `A55 = 2007/01/01' and for the case of `Name of
Contact', the
database includes `A55 = Cameron Turner'.
The Access Control Profile (ACP) provides the mapping necessary between a name
and an ID. When a user logs into the application, a profile is built and
stored in memory for
them. The profile houses all of the Access Control information configured by
the Configurable
Forms Manager Application. This can be defined as all Forms, Sections and Data
Elements
that the user is permitted to see, along with all of the Functions within the
application that the
user can see. Therefore, a user will never be able to see/enter data
for/extract data from any
Form, Section or Data Element that was not configured for them in the
Configurable Forms
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Manager Application. Every time a user logs in, the profile is built for them.
Therefore, if an
update was made in the Configurable Forms Manager Application (e.g., now
giving access to
a number of fields in the TB form), the user will get this updated profile the
next time he/she
logs in.
Each time a form is created, another table is created (either
Subject_Information,
Case-information or Categoryn_Cases, where n is the ID of the Form - each of
these tables
is similar). In this table and the Attributes table, the next available 500
attributes are set aside
for this Form (e.g., 1-500, 501-1000, 1001-1500 etc.), similar to reserving
addresses when
declaring variables in memory (especially like an Array List where it sets
aside a range of
values in memory). Therefore, when creating an attribute for Form 3, the first
Attribute ID
that will be used for this Form in the Attributes table is 1001 and this will
map to field 'Al 001'
in Category3_Cases (or Subject_Information or Case_Information if the
information is for a
Subject or common to all Cases in the system).
The Access Control Profile will handle storing this mapping in the database
schema
when creating these Forms and Attributes. When a user logs in and their
personal profile is
built, the Access Control Profile Component is the interface for other classes
in the
application to use when requiring access to the attributes. Therefore, this
can be described
as using a pointer in a compiled software application, rather than in code.
When a user's personal Access Control Profile is built when the user logs in,
the
database schema is read for that user and all the attributes, their names,
IDs, types etc. are
retrieved from the database and stored in a set of Hashtables internal to the
Access Control
Profile. Therefore, these Hashtables store the mappings and the various Access
Control
Profile methods use these Hashtables to provide the information to other parts
of the
application that need it.
For example, a part of the Data Entry Service that may be responsible for the
back-
end work of drawing a Form screen may call the method
'getAttributelDsByCategory' where it
returns all Attribute IDs to which the user has access for a particular Form.
Then it may use
this list of IDs and call a method back on the Access Control Profile,
'getAttributeNames', to
get the list of all Attribute Names for the Form to which this user has
access. Then it may
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call the method 'getAttributeType' for a particular ID to get the type so it
knows what to draw
on the screen (e.g., a text box, date field, grid etc.). In this way, the Data
Entry Service does
all its work through the Access Control Profile.
Each service (form configurer, service provisioner, policy manager) has its
own
tables. Each service communicates within the database. The messages are passed
back
and forth between two services based on the data that is collected by those
services. Those
tables are separate from the data model of the application.
A first profile schema (like a library) is used to create the form. That
profile includes
fields, data types, drop down lists, etc. When the form is created, the form
has its own unique
schema that the profiler (and other services) can use.
All of the functions, access rights, and usability of the application tie back
to the
stored schema. All of the other services communicate with, add to, and use
that architectural
schema. All of the services of the architecture are implemented together; they
are in constant
communication with each other through agents to verify things.
Once a form (record) is created, it is saved to the database, and is then
accessible to
the rest of the application. Most of the application is saved in the database.
For example, for
a search, the searches can be saved to the database. The actual search
functionality of an
application is not hard coded for an application, but is rather retrieved from
the database.
The back end components enable this. The application is not being hard coded-
it is being
configured.
Policy Interpreter
Figure 7 illustrates a policy interpreter schema for a configurable policies
manager
application 124 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Policies
can be used at
any time within the configurable forms manager application. Policies can be
used in this
application to: restrict names of forms and data elements, provide password
policy
standards, etc. Policies can also be configured for the configurable policies
manager
application itself to ensure data quality in the policies, themselves. For
example, a policy can
add notifications if an unauthorized person creates policies after-hours,
ensure that all
policies created have all the mandatory fields etc.
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The data model for the entity-relationship diagram in Figure 7 is described
below.
Each table is outlined along with their field names, types etc.
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Table 1: Table RULES
Field Name Description Type Keys Null
ID Unique identifier of a rule in the NUMBER PK No
system.
RulePriority General priority of the rule (1-5). VARCHAR2 (20) No
Priority 1 rules are executed first,
Priority 2 rules are executed next
etc.
Execution_Order Secondary priority of the rule (100 VARCHAR2 (20) No
- 120). Execution Order 100 of a
Rule Priority 1 is executed first. An
Execution Order of 120 in Rule
Priority 5 is executed last.
RuleStatus Active or Inactive. Only Active VARCHAR2 (20) No
rules are tested.
RuleType Rule classification for organization VARCHAR2 (40) No
and understanding purposes.
RunEvery Determines frequency of rule VARCHAR2 (15) No
execution.
Title Description of rule. VARCHAR2 (80) No
Condition Condition rule must satisfy. VARCHAR2 (3000) No
Source Tables which contain the data on VARCHAR2 (2000) No
which conditions will be analyzed.
Action Action to take if condition passes. VARCHAR2 (3000) No
Table 2: Table RULEWATERMARK
Field Name Description T a Keys s Null
ID Unique identifier of the next rule to NUMBER PK No
be created in the system.
Table 3: Table WORKING MEMORY
Field Name Description Type Keys Null
Fact Identifier of a fact in the VARCHAR2 (100) No
knowledge base.
Svalue String value of the fact. VARCHAR2 (100) Yes
Ivalue Integer value of the fact. NUMBER Yes
Table 4: Table RB RULETYPES
Field Name Description Type Keys Null
RuleType Rule classification for organization VARCHAR2 (40) PK No
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and understanding purposes.
Figure 8 illustrates policies data flow according to an embodiment of the
present
invention in a configurable policies manager application 128, such as the
Application Policy
Creation and Policy Creation Services from Figure 1. These policies will be
placed on
elements within the form and elements created in the application.
Application-based Policies can be defined in step 502 to control the policies
surrounding creating all the different elements within the application. For
instance, there may
be policies to state that a form must start with the characters `APP-`, or a
user cannot be
named `Super', or an organization, defined as a province or territory, must be
from an
acceptable list of provinces and territories.
Data Quality Policies can be defined in step 504 to control data formats
(dates can
only have certain fields), data existence (mandatory fields that are necessary
to fill out) and
data interactions (if one field is entered then another field must be entered
etc.). Also,
policies can be in place to ensure that only one form of a certain type of
disease is entered
as well as to ensure that only one user can be looking at a form at a time.
Trigger Policies can be defined in step 506 to control actions based on
information in
a data field (e.g., email an administrator if a certain disease outcome is
noted or if this is the
nth time a patient has complained of a particular symptom).
Workflow Policies for a form can be defined in step 508 to control what
actions are to
occur after a form is filled out. For instance, it may be to move a state data
field (e.g., from
data entered to waiting for approval). It may also include notifying another
user by email that
it is their turn to go into the form and do something.
The Policy Interpreter interacts with the following services in the
configurable forms
data entry application steps in Figure 4: enter the information into a form
(step 402): most of
the policies created in the configurable policies manager application, as
defined in Figure 3,
are created for this application (data quality validation, triggers, workflow
etc.); and extract
the data from a form for reporting and synchronization (step 406): policies
can be used to
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remove certain data from being reported/synchronized, route the information to
different
places or provide additional information to what is being reported.
Figure 9 illustrates a process according to an embodiment of the present
invention
within a configurable policy agent application 128, such as the Data
Extraction/Synchronization Service from Figure 1.
The Policy Agent will wakeup in step 602, get the extraction and
synchronization
policies and perform the extraction and synchronization actions in step 604 as
needed. The
Policy Agent will then return to sleep in step 606 until the start of the next
cycle. The data
that can be extracted and synchronized is once again based on the Access
Control Profile
and the Policies.
The Agent can also handle data trigger policies based on information it sees
in the
database. Therefore, a policy could be created to look for a threshold of
records that exhibit
the same symptoms. The Agent, when waking up, can check for this policy and
take the
prescribed course of action if the policy is violated.
A policy interpreter, policy service, policy shell or other policy components
can be
implemented as discussed in the co-pending and commonly assigned International
Patent
Application No. PCT/CA2007/001860 filed on October 22, 2007 and entitled
"Method And
Apparatus For Software Policy Management". The policy manager as discussed
therein can
be provided as a policy manager service, which can be part of an application
shell, to
produce a browser-based project. A configurable browser-based form application
can be
described as a policy-enabled application.
Messaging Component
The Messaging Component is a framework used to send and receive information
between a master instance of an application and distributed instances of the
application. In
many instances, there is a time where an instance of the Configurable
Application must be
deployed onto a laptop to be used in an offline or standalone manner. The data
within this
application must then be synched up to the master instance.
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4 ~
However, because the Messaging Component sends messages using SOAP/XML,
the Messaging Component allows an application to communicate with an external
application
that is setup to handle messaging such as HL-7 through Web Services.
The Messaging Component does not have its own schema. It uses the information
in
the Access Control Profile and the policies are retrieved from the Policy
Interpreter schema.
Embodiments of the present invention provide the benefit of the use of a
consistent
and secure software architecture, which reduces risk associated with
maintaining multiple
platforms and technologies by adopting the use of a component based
architecture.
Development costs can be reduced by the increased development of common
components. For example, 3 years ago, the average cost of a Surveillance
application was
$250,000 this has been reduced to $25,000 using embodiments of the present
invention.
Increased reuse provides consolidation of development tools and lowered
licensing costs.
Support costs can be reduced, since all IT staff are supporting the same
platform - all
applications are the same - with differences in the configurable portion. This
results in
decreased training costs and lower dependency on diverse specialized skills.
Productivity can be increased. Application development time can be reduced.
Three
years ago, average development time of a Surveillance application was 18
months; this has
been reduced to 3 months using embodiments of the present invention.
Increased preparedness is another advantage. Public health agencies need to be
prepared for emerging pathogens. Embodiments of the present invention allow
them to
respond to an emergency outbreak situation with a configurable application
within hours or
days, depending on the complexity.
Embodiments of the present invention can be applied to frame based
applications if a
certain API or platform is selected. An entire framework is then built, and
instead of having
the services separate, there would be a unified application wizard.
A user interface can be provided to improve usability of embodiments of the
present
invention. A user interface for a service provisioner can have templates of
software. For
example, a surveillance application is desired, the relevant fields (subject
information, case
information) are provided for completion and customization.
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Drag and drop functionality can also be provided. When a user creates the
form, the
system can provide a form screens that is re-drawn based on the information in
the profile
schema. By default, a "grid" can be created in the screen, and the system it
assigns the
defined fields somewhere in the grid. Attributes can be set up in a data
dictionary table 232
such as shown in Figure 3, to provide pre-set field names, that are
modifiable.
Advantageously, the system includes a drag and drop user interface by which
the user can
drag and drop the fields where they want them to appear on the screen. Various
methods of
manipulating a screen are known on Facebook, Google and other websites using
Web 2.0,
to allow users to customize where information is displayed on the screen. Any
suitable
method can be used.
An entire organization could run a plurality of forms-based applications using
one set
of application shells according to an embodiment of the present invention. A
profiler would
manage policies and permissions for every user within the organization, and
completely
manage what the users see on the screen. The plurality of forms-based
applications can
include, for example: asset management applications, surveillance
applications, human
resource applications, meeting room manager applications, vacation scheduling
applications.
All applications reports back into a central schema.
An advantage is that because only data is used for customization, systems
management is streamlined. Managing 20 applications is far more difficult than
managing
one application. Support costs can be reduced dramatically, since there is no
need for having
a separate tech support person being a subject matter expert for each
particular application
to be supported. For example, an IT department could have 4 full-time support
staff
managing over 60 applications, because they're all the same on the "back end".
Using
embodiments of the present invention, instead of taking a year to build a
browser-based form
application, it can take 2 1/2- 3 months.
In another application, the messaging service has been enhanced to allow
synchronization, so that a health worker can take a tablet PC and synchronize
it like a
PalmPilotTM. The message server communicates with the profiler to determine
what the user
has access to, and which screens they can see. On top of all that, it figures
out if the data in
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the central instance is more recent than the mobile (off-site) instance; if
they are, it merges
them.
In the above description, for purposes of explanation, numerous details have
been
set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present
invention. However, it
will be apparent to one skilled in the art that these specific details are not
required in order to
practice the present invention. In other instances, well-known electrical
structures and
circuits are shown in block diagram form in order not to obscure the present
invention. For
example, specific details are not provided as to whether the embodiments of
the invention
described herein are implemented as a software routine, hardware circuit,
firmware, or a
combination thereof.
Embodiments of the invention may be represented as a software product stored
in a
machine-readable medium (also referred to as a computer-readable medium, a
processor-
readable medium, or a computer usable medium having a computer readable
program code
embodied therein). The machine-readable medium may be any suitable tangible
medium,
including magnetic, optical, or electrical storage medium including a
diskette, compact disk
read only memory (CD-ROM), memory device (volatile or non-volatile), or
similar storage
mechanism. The machine-readable medium may contain various sets of
instructions, code
sequences, configuration information, or other data, which, when executed,
cause a
processor to perform steps in a method according to an embodiment of the
invention. Those
of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that other instructions and
operations necessary to
implement the described invention may also be stored on the machine-readable
medium.
Software running from the machine readable medium may interface with circuitry
to perform
the described tasks.
The above-described embodiments of the present invention are intended to be
examples only. Alterations, modifications and variations may be effected to
the particular
embodiments by those of skill in the art without departing from the scope of
the invention,
which is defined solely by the claims appended hereto.
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